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CHARLES  8.  ALEXANDER. 


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tihrary  of  ^he  theological  ^eminarjp 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


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PRESENTED  BY 

Mrs.    Winthro-j  W.   Aldrich 


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BRING  ME  UP  SAMUEL 


BY 


JAIVIES  W.  ALEXANDER,  D.D. 


"WTiom  shall  1  bring  up  uuto  thee?"    And  ho  said,  •'  Briug  me  up 
Samuel."  1  Samckl  28  :  11. 


NEW  YORK  : 
ANSON  D.  F.  RANDOLPH, 

No.  683   BROADWAY. 
1859. 


THIS    SERMON, 

AMOXG  THE   LAST  PREACHED  BY   ITS  AUTHOR, 


IS  KOW   GIVEN 


TO  THE  PEOPLE   FOR  'WnOJI   IT  WAS  ORIGIXALLT  PREPARED, 
AS  A  MEMENTO  OF  THEIR  PASTOR, 


A^T>  AX  EXPRESSION 


OP   THE   ABLDIXG   AFFECTION   OF 


(£.  €.  ^. 


BRING  ME  UP  SAIMUEL, 


1  Samuel,  2S  :  VL 


We  feel  the  freshness  of  the  oriental  and 
almost  patriarchal  scene,  when  the  young 
and  valiant  son  of  Kish  is  sent  out  of  Benja- 
min to  seek  the  asses  which  had  strayed. 
"  He  was  a  choice  vouns:  man  and  a  sj'oodlv, 
and  there  was  not  among  the  children  of 
Israel  a  goodlier  person  than  he :  from  his 
shoulders  and  upward  he  was  higher  than 
any  of  the  people."'  The  interview  with  the 
maidens  near  the  well,  and  the  introduction 


BRING   ME   UP   SAMUEL. 


to  tlic  Seer,  are  indelibly  impressed  upon 
our  memory.  From  that  day  the  prophet 
Samuel  became,  not  only  liis  mentor,  but  liis 
guardian  angel,  God's  special  messenger, 
and  afterwards  his  stern  rebuker.  Thus  it 
sometimes  liappens  in  our  less  important 
lives,  that  the  merest  casualty  brings  us 
acquainted  with  the  person  whose  thread  of 
life  is  thenceforward  to  be  closely  twisted 
with  our  own.  In  those  days  of  youtliful 
sim})licity  and  innocent  surprise,  Saul  was 
no  doubt  deeply  under  tlie  influence  of  relig- 
ious feeling.  The  shudder  of  reverential 
awe  had  not  worn  away  under  custom  in 
sinnino:.  He  heard  "with  astonishment  his 
designation  as  the  deliverer  of  Israel  ;  and 
bowed  his  head  witli  humble  thouglitfulness 
to  the  great  anointing.  He  even  became, 
soon  after,  a  sharer  in  prophetic  gifts,  which 


"HW 


BRING   ME   UP   SAMUEL. 


were  not  confined  to  men  of  real  inward 
holiness.  More  nearly  still  was  he  brought 
into  hallowed  connection  with  the  prophet, 
when  the  venerable  man,  amidst  the  many- 
thousands  of  Israel,  brought  him 'forth  from 
his  hiding,  and  said,  "  See  ye  him  whom  the 
Lord  hath  chosen,  that  there  is  none  like 
him  among  all  the  people." 

Religion  was  the  prevalent  spirit  on  the 
coronation-day,  when  "  they  sacrificed  sacri- 
fices of  peace-offerings  before  the  Lord  ;  aud 
there  Saul  and  all  the  men  of  Israel  rejoiced 
greatly."  During  all  his  early  reign  and 
successes,  the  young  king  was  evidently  un- 
der the  guidance  of  Samuel,  wlio  continued 
to  convey  to  him  those  counsels  of  God,  by 
which  even  the  monarch  was  to  be  governed 
under  the  theocracy.  But  pride  led  to  pre- 
sumption, and  his  conduct  soon  showed  that 


8  JIRIXG    ME   UP   SAMUEL. 


it  was  not  his  purpose  to  govern  in  the  fear 
of  the  Lord.     Now  tlie  plot  begins  to  thick- 
en and  take  on  darker  colors.     Saul,  amidst 
his  host,  insults  the  prophet  by  impatiently 
offering  sacrifice  before  his  arrival.     Sam- 
uel pronounces  the  awful  words  :  "  But  now 
thy  kingdom  shall  not  continue  .  .  .  because 
thou  hast  not  kept  that   which    the    Lord 
commanded  thee."     Then  follows  a  succes- 
sion  of   disobediences   and   disasters.     He 
who  had  led  Israel  to  victory  suffers  defeat 
after  defeat,  intermingling  with  these    the 
transgression  of  express  commands.     In  al- 
most every  one  of  these,  Samuel  appears  in 
the  crisis  of  the  dark  hour,  to  frown  on  the 
sin  and   to   denounce  vengeance.     He  who 
as  a  little  boy,  girded  with  a  linen  ephod, 
was  sent  to  aged  Eli  with  messages  of  re- 
buke, is  still  tlie  herald  of  divine  judgment, 


BRING   ME   UP   SAMUEL.  9 


coming  again  and  again  upon  the  stage. 
Again  the  God  of  his  mother  Hannah 
liad  ajDpeared  unto  him  in  vision,  af- 
ter the  King's  sparing  of  the  Amalakite. 
"  Stay,"  said  Samuel,  "  and  I  will  tell  tliee 
what  the  Lord  hath  said  to  me  this  night.  . 
.  .  .  When  thou  wast  little  in  thine  own 
sight,  wast  thou  not  made  head  of  the  tribes 
of  Israel.  .  .  .  Behold,  to  obey  is  better 
than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken  than  tlie  fat 
of  rams.  For  rebellion  is  as  the  sin  of 
tvitchcraft,  and  stubbornness  is  as  iniquity 
and  idolatry.  Because  thou  hast  rejected 
the  word  of  the  Lord,  he  hath  also  rejected 
thee  from  being  King." 

The  effect  of  this  reproof  was  not  affront, 
but  horror.  He  confesses,  he  entreats,  he 
asks  for  the  prophet's  prayers,  he  seizes 
upon   his  garment    to    prevent    his    going 


% 


10  BRING   ME   UP   SAMUEL. 


a\7ay,  so  tliat  tlio  ^kirt  of  llie  mantle  rent; 
upon  whicli  Samuel  said,  ''  Tlie  Lord  hath 
rent  the  kingdom  of  Israel  from  tliee  this  day 
and  hath  given  it  to  a  neighbor  of  thine, 
that  is  better  than  thou."  Thus  God  does 
not  leave  the  sinner  unwarned,  but  meets 
him  at  every  new  turning  even  of  liis  road 
of  apostasy.  This  meeting  at  Gilgal  closes 
the  earthly  connection  of  the  king  and  the 
prophet.  Tlie  point  had  been  reached  when 
reproof  is  no  longer  endurable.  "  Tlien 
Samuel  went  to  Ramah,  and  Saul  went  up 
to  his  house  to  Gibeali  of  Saul.  And  Sam- 
uel came  no  more  to  see  Saul  until  the  day 
of  his  death  ;  nevertheless,  Samuel  mourned 
for  Saul." 

It  is  an  affecting  moment.  AYe  see  their 
paths  separating  at  this  point.  We  observe 
on  which  side  the  union  ceases.      '  Samuel 


BRING    ME   UP   SAMUEL.  11 


came  no  more  to  see  Saul,  until  the  day  of 
Ills  death.'  We  behold  one  going  off  into 
deeper  iniquities  and  blacker  clouds  of  peril 
and  despondency,  and  the  other  seeking  an 
old  age  of  solitude,  to  lament  over  his  fallen 
son.  '  Nevertheless,  Samuel  mourned  for 
Saul.'  Last  interviews  of  this  kind  are  very 
touching.  When  God  separates  us  from 
those  who  have  been  our  chief  advisers,  who 
more  than  all  other  mortals  have  made  us 
feel  our  sins,  it  is  like  taking  away  another 
barrier  between  us  and  ruin.  It  is  related 
of  Samuel  Finley,  that  his  influence  was  so 
great,  by  his  faithful  preaching,  upon  an 
intemperate  man  in  his  congregation,  that 
this  person  was  restrained  for  years  from 
the  excesses  of  his  darling  sin.  At  length 
Finley  died.  The  news  was  brought  to  the 
parishioner,  who  exclaimed,  '  My  guardian  is 


12  BRING   ME    UP   SAMUEL. 


gone  and  I  am  lest/  and  immediately  re* 
sumed  his  intoxication  and  died  the  drunk- 
ard's death. 

Even  that  ministry  which  we  deem  too 
austere,  and  under  which  we  Avince,  sarcas- 
tically declaring  it  too  heavenly  for  our 
worldly  minds,  is  nevertheless  a  blessing, 
and  keeps  us  from  secret  sins,  and  the  taking 
of  it  away  from  us  is  sometimes  a  premoni- 
tion of  wrath.  '  Samuel  came  no  more  to 
see  Saul  until  the  day  of  his  death.'  But  I 
suppose  his  stately  figure  and  reproachful 
face  often  visited  the  king,  amidst  the  sleep- 
less hours  of  his  palace  and  the  dreary 
watches  of  the  battle-field.  The  impression 
made  on  the  soul  by  a  faithful  counsellor 
often  lasts  for  life.  For  Saul,  the  voyage 
without  a  pilot  was  becoming  more  tempestu- 
ous.    Because  a  man  has  (5vcrmastered  his 


BRING   ME   UP   SAMUEL.  13 


conscience,  so  that  he  can  sin  in  spite  of  its 
stings,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  is  happy  in 
sinning.  Bear  witness  ye,  who  have  for- 
saken the  lessons  of  your  youth,  have  aban- 
doned your  Bible,  have  estranged  yourselves 
from  prayer,  have  run  into  ways  which  once 
you  shunned  with  horror,  and  who  neverthe- 
less know  that  ye  were  never  so  wretched 
in  your  lives. 

*'  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  departed  from 
Saul,  and  an  evil  spirit  from  the  Lord  trou- 
bled [terrified]  him."  Relief  must  come 
from  the  very  youth  who  is  destined  to 
replace  him.  Goliath,  of  Gath,  defies  the 
armies  of  the  living  God  and  dishonors 
their  king.  Relief  must  again  come  from 
the  son  of  Jesse.  The  malicious  rage  and 
murderous  intentions  of  Saul  go  on  to  worse 
crimes  against  the  harmless  and  forgiving 


14  BRING   ME   UP   SAMUEL. 


David.  The  star  of  the  abandoned  king 
pales  its  ineffectual  fires.  His  frenzy  breaks 
out  against  the  priesthood  of  God,  and  his 
treachery  practises  mischief  secretly  against 
his  rival.  Amidst  tliese  increasing  sins  and 
sorrows,  Samuel  the  prophet  dies,  and  proba- 
bly leaves  no  one  on  earth  who  can  influence 
the  apostate  king  for  good.  We  need  not 
wonder  to  see  the  last  act  run  down  rapidly 
towards  its  catastrophe  ;  and  this  brings  us 
more  directly  to  our  special  subject. 

When  men  forsake  the  true  God,  they 
seek  direction  and  aid  from  idols,  and  some- 
times from  evil  spirits.  The  more  besotted 
they  are  by  sin,  the  more  do  their  vain 
curiosity  and  guilty  foreboding  lead  them 
to  pry  into  the  future,  which  an  evil  con- 
science prompts  tliem  continually  to  dread. 
Here  we  find  the  origiu  of  all  augury,  sooth- 


BRING   ME    UP   SAMUEL.  15 


saying,  magio,  witchcraft,  and  necromancy. 
They  all  involve  a  distrust  and  denial  of  the 
true  God,  and  therefore  were  forbidden 
under  heavy  penalties  by  the  Mosaic  Law. 

We  are  not  permitted  to  say  that  all  was 
imposture,    either   in    the   witch   of    former 
days,  or  (if  I  must  use  their  own  jargon)  the 
medium  of  our  own  ;    thougli  in  both  nine 
parts  out  of   ten   may   be   referred   to  this 
source.     As  we  know  that  there  were  real 
demoniacal  possessions,  we  need  not  doubt 
that  by  a  similar  collusion  with  abandoned 
and  impious  men,  Satan  and  his  angels  some- 
times afforded  a  knowledge  of  things  beyond 
human  ken  ;  and  this  would  be  proper  Avitch- 
craft.      The   alliance  of    what  is  absurdly 
called  Spiritualism  (I  use  the  term  under 
protest)  with  nervous  disease,  abnormal  sus- 
ceptibility and  licentious  passion,  has  been 


16  BRING    MI-:    UP   SAMUEL. 


sufficiently  made  out  in  our  own  day.  to  set 
wise  and  virtuous  persons  on  tlieir  <;'uard. 
In  a  period  of  great  unbelief  and  crime  such 
extravagancies  abound,  just  as  noxious  ver- 
min crawl  out  at  night. 

As  King  of  Israel,  Saul  had  animadverted 
in  a  stringent  manner  on  these  seducers,  who 
professed  to  hold  commerce  witli  tlie  spirits 
of  the  departed.  The  presumption  is,  that 
he  liad  done  this  in  liis  better  day  and  under 
the  counsel  of  the  great  prophet ;  for  mark 
the  connection  :  "  Now  Samuel  was  dead, 
and  all  Israel  had  lamented  liim,  and  buried 
him  in  Ramah,  even  in  his  own  city.  And 
Saul  had  put  away  those  that  had  familiar 
spirits  and  the  wizards,  out  of  the  land." 
But  wlien  liis  day  began  to  decline,  and  tem- 
pestuous clouds  betokened  an  evening  of  (k's- 
pair,  the  agony  of  his  soul  craved  some  rev- 


BRING   ME   UP   SAMUEL.  l'^ 

elation    concerning    the    future.      He    was 
beset  by  enemies,  and   saw  the   Philistines, 
not  merely  at    the   doors,   but    within   the 
citadel,  and   gaining    on    him    every    day. 
-And  when  Saul  saw  the  host  of  the  Philis- 
tines, he  was  afraid,  and  his  heart  greatly 
trembled."     Prop  after  prop  had  been  taken 
from  him  ;  his  skies  shone  lurid  ;  David  had 
been   driven  away,  and  Samuel  was  dead. 
Greatly  as  he  had  offended  against  the  God 
of  his  fathers,  he  still  essayed  to  gain  some 
light  from  his  wisdom  ;  as  we  frequently  see 
profligate  men,  in  times  of  extreme  fear,  re- 
sorting to  divine  service  and  to  the  ministers 
of  religion.      But    in    vain.     "And    when 
Saul  inquired   of  the   Lord,  the   Lord   an- 
swered him  not,  neither  by  dreams,  nor  by 
Urim,  nor  by  prophets."     This  was  perhaps 
the  turiiing-point  in  his  defection  from  the 


18  BRING    ME    UP   SAMUEL. 


true  God.  Before  this,  lie  probably  might 
have  returnei  ;  but  now  he  consciously  and 
wilfully  abandons  Jehovali  forever.  In  like 
manner,  we  find  all  the  leading  devotees  and 
advocates  of  our  modern  necromancy  to  be 
infidels.  They  forsake  God  before  they  sell 
themselves  to  tlie  devil.  It  is  but  a  partial 
glimpse  which  we  can  gain  into  the  secret 
throes  and  convulsions  of  a  black  and  pow- 
erful nature  like  Saul's.  The  woes  of  Orestes 
and  Oedipus,  on  the  Grecian  stage,  could  not, 
in  their  original,  have  been  more  fearful.  His 
thouglits  in  tumult  must  have  broken  into 
such  ejaculations  as  these  :  All  is  over  with 
me !  The  heavens  above  me  are  brass,  and 
the  ear  of  God  is  deaf.  Xo  response  comes 
to  me  from  the  awful  void.  My  foes  increase 
and  there  is  no  help  for  me  in  God.  I  will 
betalce   me  to  otlicr  powers  of   nnkire,   of 


BRING  ME    UP   SAMUEL.  19 

which  I  have  heard.  There  is  more  than 
one  kingdom  in  the  universe  ;  and  perchance 
there  may  be  a  turbulent  satisfaction  in  ally- 
ing myself  with  the  principalities  which  fell. 
At  least,  let  me  avail  myself  of  their  keener 
insight. 

"  Then  said  Saul  unto  his  servants,  Seek 
me  a  woman  that  hath  a  familiar  spirit,  that 
I  may  go  to  her  and  inquire  of  her."  The 
clairvoyante  whom  they  indicated  lived  at 
a  place  named  En-Dor;  and  thither  the 
despairing  monarch  went  in  disguise,  by 
night,  accompanied  by  two  retainers.  After 
quieting  the  fears  of  the  hag,  he  expressed 
his  desire  to  commune  with  one  of  the  de- 
parted. 

I  cannot  bring  myself  to  believe,  that  the 
spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect  can  be 
made  to  come  and  go    at    the    bidding  of 


2<l  BPJXC    MK    LI'    SAMUEL 

an  unclean  ?orccress,  or  her  diabolical 
master ;  and  tlierefore  I  suppose  the  ap- 
jKillinii'  event  wliich  ibllowed  was  as  truly 
a  surprise  to  Itvy  as  to  Idm. 

But  let  us  return  to  our  story.  "  Then 
said  the  woman,  'Whom  shall  I  bring 
u})  unto  tliee?'  And  he  said,  'Bring  me 
up  Samuel ! ' "  These  are  the  words  for 
whicli  we  have  been  jireparing  and  to  which 
we  shall  return,  after  completing  a  few  steps 
of  the  history.  For  "  when  the  woman  saw 
Samuel,  she  cried  with  a  loud  voice;  and 
the  woman  spake  to  Saul,  saying,  '  Wliy 
hast  thou  deceived  me  ?  for  thou  art  Saul.^ 
And  the  king  said  unto  her,  '  Be  not  afraid  : 
for  what  sawest  thou?'  And  the  woman 
said  unto  Saul,  'I  saw  gods  ascending  out 
of  tlie  earth.'  And  he  said  unto  her,  'What 
form  is  he  of?'     And  she  said,  'An  old  iimii 


BRING   ME   UP   SAMUEL.  21 


Cometh  up,  and  lie  is  covered  with  a  mantle. 
And  Saul  perceived  that  it  was  Samuel,  and 
he  stooped  with  his  face  to  the  ground,  and 
bowed  himself."  The  picture  is  shadowy 
but  complete  ;  a  few  touches  go  home  to  the 
imagination  and  the  heart  ;  as  in  great 
sculpture,  or  some  tragic  situation  in  ^schj- 
lus.  The  miserable  king  had  his  wish.  The 
hoary  prophet  had  risen,  though  independ- 
ently of  the  conjuring  of  the  witch.  From 
those  holy  lips  he  heard  his  awful  doom  and 
fell  prostrate.  Not  many  hours  elapsed  be- 
fore the  prediction  was  fulfilled.  "  To-mor- 
row slialt  thou  and  th}^  sons  be  with  me.'' 
But  the  truth  to  which  your  attention  is 
specially  invited,  and  which  is  founded  on 
the  king's  reply,  ''  Bring  me  up  Samuel,"  is 
this,  that  in  times  of  affliction,  remorse  and 
fear,  our  thoughts  go  back  to  the  instruc- 


22  BRING    MK    LP    S^MLEL. 

tious  and  the  teachers  of  our  former  year.-. 
"Bring  nie  up  Samuel,''  means,  Oli,  let  me  see 
once  more  the  lioly  monitor  of  my  youth  ; 
let  me  again  liearken  to  words  of  loving 
wisdom  from  those  lips  ;  let  me  learn  fi'om 
the  only  faitliful  friend  of  my  throne,  what 
are  my  duty  and  my  doom.  The  state  of 
his  mind  is  made  more  clear  by  his  own 
words,  after  the  n])]»arition  rose:  "I  am 
sore  distressed ;  for  the  Philistines  make 
war  against  me.  and  God  is  departed  from 
me,  and  answereth  me  neither  by  prophets 
nor  by  dreams :  therefore  I  have  called  tliee. 
that  thou  mayest  make  known  unto  me  wliac 
I  shall  do."  In  these  unutterable  sorrows, 
lie  bethought  him  of  Samuel.  Chased  as 
l)y  a  demon,  and  harj'owed  by  remembrnnccs 
of  guilt,  his  mind  went  back,  we  may 
suppose,  to  the  first  interview  of  his  pastoral 


BRING   ME    UP   SAMUEL.  23 


youth,  when  Samuel  communed  with  him  in 
the   privacy   of    the   housetop. 

There  are  moments  in  which  the  whole 
tapestry  of  past  life  seems  to  be  unrolled, 
with  all  its  colours  of  sadness,  and  especially 
that  of  guilt.  It  was  such  a  moment  with 
Saul.  Looking  back,  as  in  a  feverish  de- 
lirium, he  could  descry  along  his  burning 
track,  every  point  at  which  he  struck  off  in- 
to new  wanderings.  With  every  change  in 
his  dream,  the  figure  of  the  prophet  was 
mingled.  At  every  crime,  the  expostulating 
look  of  the  prophet  comes  back  to  him. 
"  Bring  me  up  Samuel,"  bursts  from  his 
parched  lips.  He  does  not  ask  for  the  com- 
panions of  his  pleasures,  the  instruments  of 
liis  ambition,  the  guides  of  his  devious  errors ; 
he  asks  for  the  sternest  man  he  ever  knew. 
li  )nce  he  regarded  his  code  as  severe,  and 


24:  BRIXG   ME    UP   SAMUEL. 


liis  denunciations  as  fierce,  he  now  longs  for 
liim  as  tlic  one  wlio  was  true,  uncompromit;- 
ing,  and  on  the  side  of  God.  In  days  of  trou- 
ble, it  is  not  our  flatterers  to  whom  we  go. 
Saul  remembered  that  day  of  thunder  and 
lightning,  Avhen  the  prophet  had  shown  his 
friendship  by  declaring  :  "  Moreover,  as  for 
me,  God  forbid  tliat  I  should  sin  against  tlic 
Lord  in  ceasing  to  pray  for  you  :  but  I  Avill 
teacli  you  tlie  good  and  the  riglit  way."  Per- 
haps he  thought  this  adviser  of  his  youth 
could  now  do  him  some  good,  in  his  extremi- 
ty. Children  thus  flee  to  tlieir  parents  in 
fear  of  storms  ;  and  most  of  us  have  known 
the  hour  when  we  felt  safer  near  those  who 
were  pious  and  benignant. 

It  is  a  most  striking  trait,  tliat  of  all  Ijc- 
ings,  tlie  one  to  wliom  Saul  in  anguisli  turns, 
is  the  reprover  of  liis  sins.     And  tlie  princi- 


BRIXG   ME   UP   SAMUEL.  25 


pie  lies  so  deep  in  liuman  nature,  that  every 
hearer  has  felt  it  tell  upon  his  conscience  as 
the  narrative  has  proceeded  ;  nay,  the  hour  is 
coming,  when  many  a  hearer,  now  careless  in 
his  sins,  shall  turn  on  his  bed  of  poignant 
suffering,  and  groan — Bring  me  up  Samuel ! 
No  man  can  tell,  during  his  days  of  hur- 
ried pleasure  and  sinful  excitement,  how  he 
will  be  affected  in  the  hour  when  his  com- 
forts have  fled,  when  the  vortex  has  stopped, 
and  when  he  is  tlirown  upon  himself.  ''  Je- 
rusalem remembered  in  the  days  of  her  afflic- 
tion and  of  her  miseries  all  her  pleasant 
things  that  she  had  in  the  days  of  old.""' 
Dulces  moriens  reininiscitur  Argos.  In 
this  moment  of  forlorn  solitude,  many 
pictures  recur  to  the  sickly  mind  of  the 
heart-broken  king.     He  sees  the  hills  of  Ben 

*  Lament,  i.  7. 


26  BRL\(;    ME    LT    SAMl'EL. 


jamir,   the  hou.^e  of  Kisli.    the   herds   and 
pastures  of  Ins  boyliood  ;  tlie  journey  with 
his  servant,  wlien  ]ie  dreamed  of  rebellion 
and  witchcraft  as  little  as  of  a  crown  ;  tlie 
ecstacy   of  inspiration   wlien  he  seized  and 
touched    the  ],arp  of    propliecy  ;    and    the 
manly   exultation  with    wliich   lie   returned 
from  the  field  of  trophies,  met  by  the  timbrel 
and  the  dance.     How  sad  is  the  memory  of 
joys  whicli  can  never  return  !     How  desolat- 
ing to  recall  times  of  purity,  when  we  have 
become   corrupted!     But  Sauls   holiest  re- 
membrances gathered  around  the  venerable 
head  of  Samuel.     From  his  lips  had  flowed 
the   teachings   of  wisdom,  and  his  happiest 
days  were  when  he  lent  to  them  a  docile  ear. 
Thoughtful  hearer  !  you  are  already  applying 
it  to  yourself     You  likewise  have  memones" 
and   you   are   forgetting   the   sermon  while 


BRING    ME    UP   SAMUEL.  27 


your  mind  lapses  to  those  green  fields  of  your 
country  home,  where,  amidst  hard  but  virtu- 
ous husbandry,  or  by  the  hearth  of  parents 
and  grandparents,  and  brothers  and  sisters, 
(where  are  they  now  ?)  you  '"  felt  that  you 
were  happier  than  you  knew."  Since  those 
days,  you  have  tasted  of  the  tree  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  and  your  eyes 
have  been  opened.  Yet  you  go  back  in 
thought  to  some  ancient  adviser,  who  told 
your  incredulous  youth  how  sad  its  man- 
hood might  become  ;  and  you  have  found 
it  true. 

I  could  with  great  respect  and  interest 
turn  aside  to  address  a  few  remindino-  words 
to  the  dull,  cold  ear  of  age.  He  who  is 
overtaken  by  infirmity,  and  has  reached  the 
days  in  which  to  say,  "  I  liave  no  pleasure  in 
them,"  is  full  of  recollections  ;  and  among 


28  BRING    ME   UP   SAMUEL. 


these  a  special  place  is  occupied  bv  the  lessons 
and  other  privileges  of  former  years.  The 
aged  person  indulges  in  tender  reverie  con- 
cerning the  season  when  religious  knowledge 
came  freshly  home  to  the  soul ;  wlien  the 
house  of  God  was  a  solemn  place  :  when 
religious  awakening  shook  wliole  assemblies  ; 
when  youthful  companions  flocked  into  the 
churcli  ;  when  prayer  was  earnest,  and  when 
Jesus  liimself  seemed  to  be  passing  by.  As 
all  tlie  opportunities  of  your  cldldhood  and 
youth  will  meet  and  confront  you  at  the  bar 
of  Christ,  so  it  is  likely  they  will  come  and 
startle  you  even  before  that  day.  Only  let 
some  great  desertion,  or  bereavement,  or 
loss,  or  pain,  or  illness,  or  disabling  stroke 
come  upon  yon,  (it  is  conceivable,)  while  yet 
you  have  no  supports  and  consolations  of 
grace — only   let   some    limb   be  benumbed, 


BRING   ME   UP   SAMUEL.  29 


some  sense  stopped  ap,  some  incurable  mal- 
ady fixed  in  your  frame,  some  nervous  trepi- 
dation unlit  you  for  life's  joys — (it  is  not 
impossible) — and  your  eyes  will  turn  to  for- 
mer means  of  grace,  to  the  church  and  bible  of 
your  springtide,  and  to  the  voice  of  God, 
wliich  rung  unheeded  in  your  ears.  Long  be- 
fore decrepitude,  the  language  is  often  heard  : 
"How  have  I  hated  instruction,  and  my  heart 
despised  reproof ;  and  have  not  obeyed  the 
voice  of  my  teachers,  nor  inclined  mine  ear  to 
them  that  instructed  me.  I  was  almost  in  all 
evil  in  the  midst  of  the  congregation  and  as- 
sembly."^ The  sting  in  Saul's  recollections 
was  instruction  disoheyed.  He  Iiad  been  re- 
proved ;  but  "  he  that,  being  often  reproved, 
hardeneth  his  neck,  shall  suddenly  be  cut  off, 
and  that  without  remedy."     And  the  appre- 

*  Prov.  V.  12-15. 

3* 


30  BRTXi.;    ME    UF    SAMUEL. 


hensioii  of  this  imniincnt  execution  was  now 
causing  him  to  shake  with  horror. 

Samuel,  the  prophet,  had  fearlessly  re- 
buked Saul ;  yet  in  extremity  Saul  cries, 
"Bring  me  up  Samuel."  He  had  been  ag- 
grieved by  those  faithful  reproofs,  but  now 
the  reprover  is  l>rouglit  to  mind.  Thus, 
being  dead  he  still  speaketli  ;  just  as  John 
the  Baptist  still  spake  in  the  conscience  of 
Herod,  causing  him  to  sec  this  second  Eli- 
jah even  in  tlie  gentle  miracles  of  Jesus, 
and  to  say,  ''It  is  John  the  Baptist  who  has 
risen  from  the  dead."  Bring  me  Samuel, 
cries  he  who  disregarded  Samuel  wliile  liv- 
ing. And  so  it  often  is.  The  father  and 
mother  who  taught  you  tlie  right  ways  of 
the  Lord,  have  Ijcen  met  by  your  contempt 
and  disobedience.  But  the  days  are  coming 
wlien  their  meek,  remonstrant  faces  sliall  flit 


BRING   ME   UP   SAMUEL.  31 


before  you,  and  when  you  will  long  to  bring 
them  back,  that  you  might  learn  from  them 
the  secret  of  their  liappiness  and  their 
power.  Beside  the  tomb  of  your  parents, 
you  will  be  ready  to  long  that  you  could 
bring  them  again,  that  you  might  bewail 
your  undutiful  neglects,  and  make  even  this 
tardy  reparation  for  the  dishonor  you  have 
done  them.  For,  wdiat  blessing  of  your  bet- 
ter days  is  not  associated  with  their  persons 
so  closely  that  you  cannot  think  of  youthful 
joys  without  thinking  of  them  ?  And  what 
instructions  can  ever  compare  with  those 
which  were  the  first,  the  simplest,  and  the 
most  loving  ?  If  you  had  the  power  of 
raising  the  dead,  in  your  hour  of  woe^  your 
language  would  not  be,  Bring  me  up  the 
ministers  of  my  mirth  —  my  comrades  in 
wassail  and  the  dance — my  flatterers,  my 


32  BRIXa   ME    UP   SAMUEL. 


lovers,  my  deceivers,  the  partners  of  my 
avarice  and  my  pomp,  the  serpents  that 
twined  about  me  and  stuns:  me  :  but,  Brins: 
me  up  the  "old  man"  covered  with  a  man- 
tle, whose  gray  hairs  I  brouglit  down  with 
sorrow  to  the  grave !  Bring  me  up  /^er, 
who  loved  me  even  in  my  waywardness, 
who  tried  to  counsel  me  even  wlien  I  would 
not  hearken,  who  comforted  me  in  illness, 
and  who  died  brcatliing  prayers  in  my  be- 
half! The  feeling  of  the  ricli  man  in  tor- 
ment w^as  natural  ;  but  sucli  appeals  of 
sinners  to  the  other  world  are  vain,  "  neither 
^vould  they  be  converted  though  one  rose 
from  the  dead."  Should  you  enter  some 
cavern,  and  from  some  a'ai)ini2'  cliasm  beliold 
tlie  apparition  of  tliose  honored  forms,  it 
would  only  be  to  hear  what  Saul  lieai-d, 
'* Why  hast   thou   disquieted   me,   to    l)ring 


BRING   ME    UP   SAMUEL.  33 


me  up  ? "  Why  call  us  from  our  rest,  to 
mourn  anew  over  the  sins  whicli  ye  will 
not  abandon  ? 

Ministers  of  the  gospel  often  lament  in 
secret  over  the  indifference  with  whicli  their 
messages  are  heard,  and  sometimes  they 
forecast  a  time,  after  their  decease,  when 
their  words  may  come  back  to  these  hearers 
with  a  prevailing  force.  In  this  way,  as 
well  as  others,  dead  ministers  continue  to 
preach.  It  is  wise  to  cherish  their  memory. 
"  Remember  thera  .  .  .  which  have  spoken 
unto  you  the  word  of  God  ;  whose  faith 
follow."  But  times  of  distress  particularly 
bring  them  to  mind.  Even  while  they  live, 
tliey  are  often  sent  for  in  great  haste,  and 
alas !  too  late,  by  those  who  neglected  them 
in  days  of  health,  but  who  now  cry  out  for 
their  guidance  and  prayers  amidst  the  ago- 


34  BRTXr,    ME    L'P    SAMUEI.. 


nies  of  death.  And  \y1icii  the  faithful  pastor 
has  been  dead  many  years,  liis  warnings 
still  linger  in  the  mind  of  the  ungodly,  who, 
surrounded  bv  the  Philistines,  entanii^led  in 
the  sins  of  a  life-time,  and  awaiting  unknown 
increase  of  terrors,  earnestly  cries,  0  that  I 
could  noiv  hear  what  I  once  contemned !  0 
for  a  day,  an  hour,  of  instruction  from  tlie 
father  of  my  childhood,  the  counsellor  of  my 
riper  years!  Give  me  back  my  unlieeded 
monitor — "  Bring  me  up  Samuel  !  " 

Ah !  my  respected  but  unconverted  hear- 
ers, we  come  to  you,  after  many  trials  of 
preparation  and  with  much  consciousness  of 
infirmity,  sermon  after  sermon.  Sabbath  af- 
ter Sabbath,  month  after  month,  year  after 
year  ;  we  grow  gray  and  feeble  waiting  on 
you  with  tlic  Lord's  message,  wjiirli  you 
will  not  consider  ;  and  then  we  die  and  you 


BRING   ME    UP   SAMUEL.  35 


are  released  from  the  distasteful  reiteration 
of  warning  and  entreaty.  God  grant  that 
the  day  may  not  come  when  you  shall  gaze 
on  some  marble  and  wish  us  back  ;  and 
v/hen  echo  shall  seem  to  say  with  Samuel, 
"  Wherefore  tlien  dost  thou  ask  of  me,  see- 
ing the  Lord  is  departed  from  thee,  and  is 
become  thine  enemy."  Suppose  we  could 
return  all  ghastly  to  stand  beside  your 
death-bed,  we  could  bring  you  no  gospel 
which  you  have  not  rejected.  Nothing  will 
have  come  upon  you  but  that  which  we  had 
predicted.  You  have  been  forewarned  ;  so 
was  Saul.  Hence,  the  prophet  whom  he 
invokes,  says  to  him :  "  And  the  Lord  hath 
done  to  him  as  he  spake  by  me  ....  be- 
cause thou  obeyedst  not  the  voice  of  tlie 
Lord."  "  Because  I  have  called  and  ye  re- 
fused ;  I  have  stretched  out  my  hand  and 


36  BRTXrj   ME   IP   SAMTEL. 


no  man  regarded ;  bat  ye  have  set  at 
naagiit  all  mv  counsel  and  would  none  of 
my  reproof :  I  also  will  laugh  at  your  ca- 
lamitv.  I  will  mock  when  vour  fear  cometh  : 
when  your  fear  cometh  as  desolation  and 
your  destruction  cometh  as  a  whirlwind, 
when  distress  and  anguish  cometh  upon 
you.  Then  shall  they  call  upon  me,  but  I 
will  not  answer ;  they  shall  seek  me  early, 
but  they  shall  not  find  me :  for  that  they 
hated  knowledge,  and  did  not  choose  the 
fear  of  the  Lord.*^ 

The  scene  changes  in  the  31st  chapter,  to 
the  battleground  of  Mount  GUboa.  Amidst 
the  dust  and  turmoil  of  the  fight,  we  behold 
a  gory  figure,  taller  than  all  about  him,  and 
scarce!}-  taught  to  stoop,  even  in  his  despair. 
He  is  begirt  with  Philistines.  There  lie 
the  corpses  of  Jonathan  and  his  other  sons. 


BRING    ME   UP    SAMUEL.  37 


Let  US  read.  "And  the  battle  Tvent  sore 
against  Saul,  and  lie  was  sore  wounded 
of  the  archers.  Then  said  Saul  unto  his 
armor-bearer.  Draw  thy  sword  and  thrust 
me  through  therewith,  lest  these  uncircum- 
cised  abuse  me.  But  his  armor-bearer  was 
afraid.  Therefore  Saul  took  a  sword  and 
fell  upon  it.'*  The  prophet  whom  he  called 
up  had  foretold  it  all.  Even  those  who 
have  loved  us  and  exhorted  us,  must  take 
God's  side,  and  be  witnesses  against  us,  if 
we  reject  the  counsel  of  God  against  our- 
selves. Be  assured,  my  unpardoned  hear- 
ers, unless  Christianity  is  a  fiction,  days  are 
comino:  in  which  the  truths  with  which  vou 
now  trifle  will  have  acquired  a  portentous 
solemnity.  How  differently  sounds  the 
name  of  Jesus,  now,  in  your  moments  of 
security  .  .  .  and  in  the  chamber  of  death ! 


38  BRING    ME    UP    SAMUEL. 


What  an  unmeaning  object  is  the  Cross, 
here,  where  you  have  no  sense  of  danger  .  . 
.  .  and  what  is  its  import  yonder,  at  tlie 
close  of  your  career,  wlien  this  only  can 
save  you  from  hell !  The  wliole  intention 
of  these  remarks  has  been  to  impress  on  you 
a  weighty  reason  for  liearkening  now  to 
the  lessons  of  wisdom,  because  otlierwise 
you  will  turn  to  tliem  witli  the  instinct  of 
anguish  in  the  hour  of  despair.  Thus  Jesus 
weeps  over  Jerusalem,  saying,  "  0,  that  thou 
hadst  known,  even  thou,  the  things  that 
belong  to  thy  peace ;  but  now  they  are 
hidden  from  thine  eyes  !  " 

Great  privileges  do  not  secure  salvation. 
To  Christ  himself,  some  will  sav,  "  Hast 
Thou  not  taught  in  our  streets?"  to  whom 
he  will  reply,  "  T  never  knew  you!"  Dear 
hearer,  the  Mount  at  whose  foot  you  stand 


BRING   ME    UP   SAMUEL.  39 


to-day,  is  not  Gilboa,  nor  yet  Sinai  ...  it 
is  Zion !  Come,  therefore,  to  Jesus,  tlie 
Mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  and  to  the 
blood  of  sprinkling,  that  "  speaketh  better 
things  than  that  of  Abel."  Why  will  ye 
die,  when  salvation  is  at  the  door,  and  when 
we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  God? 


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